VP Confirms Turkish Intelligence Was Involved in Nagorno-Karabakh War, Refuting Long-Denied Claim

STOCKHOLM (Nordic Monitor) — Turkey’s vice president last week stated that its National Intelligence Organization (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) played an active role in the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, helping to shape the balances in the field.

Vice President Fuat Oktay made a presentation on the annual activities of state institutions operating under the Presidency at parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee on November 26. Stating that MİT is a source of pride for the country, Oktay told deputies that the organization renders great service to Turkey’s interests with the operations it carries out abroad.

“In many regions such as Syria, Libya, Upper Karabakh and most recently Afghanistan, the organization has carried out important work that protects our national interests and shapes the balances in the field in favor of our country, in line with our state policy,” he said. “We have not only carried out the most successful operations in our history against terrorist organizations at our borders and just beyond but have also achieved many successes, from ending the 30-year occupation of Karabakh to the struggle for legitimacy in Libya against the putschists. We are progressing and demonstrating our concrete achievements one by one.”

It is no secret that Turkey supported its ally Azerbaijan militarily, but no official statement has ever been made regarding the involvement of Turkish intelligence in the war. On the contrary, it was persistently denied that MİT took any initiatives regarding the war zone, the biggest reason being an accusation that MİT transferred jihadist fighters under its control in Syria to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia continuously claims that foreign fighters were brought from Syria and Libya through Turkish intelligence and that they committed war crimes. Nordic Monitor has learned that Armenian diaspora organizations continue to investigate which MİT agents took part in the conflict last year as part of efforts to file a war crimes complaint about Turkey and Azerbaijan with the International Criminal Court.